Waiting for an elevator in the W.E.B. Du Bois library may take a bit longer for the next few weeks. Elevator car number four has been closed since it traveled out of control for several floors before coming to a stop at the 27th floor last Friday.

Just before 10 a.m. a loud crash was heard throughout the library. According to the press release, the sound was the result of the car’s counterweight and ropes dropping down the elevator shaft and hitting a shock absorber in the basement. No one was aboard and no one was injured.

“I was in my office. The entire building heard [the noise],” said Terry Warner, assistant director of administrative services. “It just sounded like a loud crash. I didn’t know what happened until my phone started ringing.”

Although an investigation is still underway, an initial assessment by physical plant indicated that a bracket that guides the elevator’s control cable broke, releasing the electric brake and allowing the counterweight to pull the car up.

“We got excellent response from the UMass police